Summary:Path of Exile is an online Action RPG set in the dark fantasy world of Wraeclast. They're a small independent team of hardcore gamers based in New Zealand and have created Path of Exile as the game that they'd want to play themselves. It is designed around a strong barter-based online itemPath of Exile is an online Action RPG set in the dark fantasy world of Wraeclast. They're a small independent team of hardcore gamers based in New Zealand and have created Path of Exile as the game that they'd want to play themselves. It is designed around a strong barter-based online item economy, deep character customisation, competitive PvP and ladder races. The game is completely free and will never be "pay to win". [Grinding Gear Games]…Expand

For a free title, knocked together by a small team, it's stunning just how much it blows the opposition away. They have taken what was wrong with the genre and fixed it; what was right, they have made even better.

If Path of Exile were a priced game, it would have been very, very good. But it's beyond any expectations: fun, addictive, completely free to play and worth every penny Grinding Gear Games is not asking.

Hack’n Slay as its best. First you’ll think “this is just another diablo-copy”, but when you begin to get into the game deeper, you’ll be surprised. It has the most powerful and individual character-system you’ll ever see in an action-rpg so far. Moreover, all game-content is 100% free to play, no hidden “pay2win” in the shop.

Path of Exile surprises in many aspects. Speaking of an action Diablo-style RPG, it's considered a chestnut. However, the New Zealand developers pleased us with complexity, ideas, and especially with unique gameplay.

I can't say what their future holds as I'm not much of an economist (nor am I really a magpie). But I can say I've had many, many hours of fun in a game that still has much more to show me and which all of us, right now, can play for nothing at all. We're being spoiled.

POE is the deepest aRPG slasher ever made. It uses some tested ideas while introducing highly innovative systems and end-game mechanics. ToPOE is the deepest aRPG slasher ever made. It uses some tested ideas while introducing highly innovative systems and end-game mechanics. To put it straight
Path of Exile is AAA+ game FREE of charge. No pay to win. Grind to win!

The game is quite polished already future announcements make you connected to Wreaclast even more. Devs give their best, the rapport is great and from what i've seen in the past year the were 25+ patches, constant tweaking with the mechanics, skill tree* and skills.
Dedication is the way Grinding Gear works. They way they introduce changes clearly shows how they care.
*The sheer size of the skill tree is a guarantee jaw drop if seen for the first time…Expand

Path of Exile is exactly what the genre needed. I hardcore development team true to the game and it's idea's. Maybe it's just me but DiabloPath of Exile is exactly what the genre needed. I hardcore development team true to the game and it's idea's. Maybe it's just me but Diablo for example seemed to care more about it's revenue model then the game it's self.

Also i would just like to add for the guy crying about his ATI 6800. I have the exact same card as you 6870 1 GB. Other than during the shadows off (You need to do this in pretty much any game for ATI cards) i have perfect performance. You might want check your system for a virus etc...…Expand

This is the first aRPG in a long time that takes some risks and really pushes out some fresh ideas. The currency system, the passive skillThis is the first aRPG in a long time that takes some risks and really pushes out some fresh ideas. The currency system, the passive skill tree, the cosmetic items, the different leagues with different mods, guilds, and a constant barrage of updates from a developer that truly cares about its player base.

Regardless of your views, there's no arguing that this game is a milestone in free-to-play games as well as aRPG's. Path of Exile is a game to watch out for that will have a player base that will last for years to come.…Expand

Diverging from most of the online micro-transaction games you find these days, Path of Exile takes a refreshing turn and opts to have a payDiverging from most of the online micro-transaction games you find these days, Path of Exile takes a refreshing turn and opts to have a pay system that is purely "Pay to Awesome" rather than "Pay to Win". That is the real money market is all about cosmetic upgrades and a few utility upgrades (such as increased storage and the like). It is refreshing to find that there is such an attitude in the online gaming community. That being said the game itself has a few issues. Most notably is the ability to connect and stay connected to the servers. I routinely have found myself "timed out" for no particular reason and then waiting in a queue of anywhere from 200-2000 people trying to get back in. High latency also can be an issue and as it is an ARPG such things can get you killed, this is a really big deal in the higher end Leagues where death is permanent or carries severe penalties. Aside from that is also the issue of graphical optimization. While the game runs great on a current gen PC (anything with 512MB video card and a decent CPU) it suffers on portable systems such as laptops with integrated GPUs (it even ran sluggishly on my laptop with an nVidia GTX 760M with 1GB dedicated RAM). This is only an issue for those who like to play on a mobile unit like a laptop, but the graphics settings are sparse with little in the way of "low quality" for graphical settings (the lowest texture package is medium). It is hard to draw a comparison from this game to Diablo 2 as much of the game seems to be taken straight from Diablo 2, especially the overhead map and Life/Mana bubbles. That aside it has a refreshing progression system that literally has hundreds of possible avenues of progression and with the socketed skill system the customization of a specific character is practically limitless. This alone makes the game endlessly fun.…Expand

Great game. Graphics aren't impressive, but the depth, challenge, and just endless possibilities make it amazing. It's closer to what D3Great game. Graphics aren't impressive, but the depth, challenge, and just endless possibilities make it amazing. It's closer to what D3 should have been and it's FREE!…Expand

I found Path of Exile to be a great ARPG. I put countless hours into it, grinding for that elusive piece of gear that I never really found.I found Path of Exile to be a great ARPG. I put countless hours into it, grinding for that elusive piece of gear that I never really found. That's the long and short of POE in my view, an otherwise excellent game that is very slightly overshadowed by grinder's fatigue. I made decent use of the brilliant skill tree, probably the best in the business and certainly the most complex in recent memory. I rebuilt my character from scratch using different formulae, 4 times in total. I rethought my strategy, played solo and in teams, but eventually hit my personal ceiling in the mid-eighties levels. I was at the point where i simply could not handle any harder bosses without another complete rebuild, and given my caster class, I could not put any more points into defence and resistances without totally nerfing my punching power spell-wise. I tried to tough it out, but given the 20% level penalty for each death, getting one-shotted by level 88 bosses was becoming a nightly exercise in frustration. I was able to mitigate my losses through purchases of expensive gear, but I was nowhere near the level of my tanky counterparts in terms of survivability, and was hitting for less than 30% of their power even with highest level spells available. Also, with a 20% of level penalty per death, the ubiquitous lag in the POE server system was proving to be the cause of too many of my deaths at too high a price.

I agree with other posters that have said success in this game is more about rare gear than about skill. I found that grinding night after night at the mid-80's level would result in gear that was less than 10% as good as the gear I would need to progress into the harder maps. I gave up completely when I finally realized that I would have to grind for months if not years to get even one piece of gear out of many that I would need to continue.

All in all, I had tremendous fun with POE, but after playing about 6 months regularly it lost its' appeal. For the hardest-core grinders only in the long run, but the excellent game design and the fun it offered me was enough for me to voluntarily donate $45 to the cause. Excellent job, GGG, respect on your good work, and perhaps we'll meet again.…Expand

This game still favours melee chars. Spell crit is op, especially when the spells are invisible... Sorry but after connection problems,This game still favours melee chars. Spell crit is op, especially when the spells are invisible... Sorry but after connection problems, getting great drops for a char 20 lvls below me, I'm tired of this **** Pulled about 20 maps, rek most and the game is pretty much now about whether you get instagibbed rather than be able to kill stuff, not fun at all.…Expand